# Illegal Gold Mine Collapses in Sudan Red Sea State Leaving 11 Workers Dead and Over 30 Injured > At least 11 miners were killed and over 30 injured when an illegal gold mine shaft caved in on Saturday night in the remote Oni area of Sudan Red Sea state. **Type:** article · **Category:** World · **Published:** 2026-09-21 · **Source:** TrendKia **Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/world/sudan-ke-red-sea-rajya-men-avaidha-sone-ki-khadana-dhahane-se-11-khanikon-ki-mauta-30-se-adhika-ghayala-35475 · **Language:** English **Tags:** Sudan, Red Sea State, Gold Mine, Mine Collapse, Civil War, Oni, Rapid Support Forces In conflict-ravaged Sudan, already grappling with deep starvation and widespread civil warfare, a second catastrophic mining disaster has struck within the span of a single week. The collapse took place late Saturday night at an unauthorized gold mining site in the remote Oni area of Red Sea state, situated in northeastern Sudan. The sudden cave-in of the mine's central tunnel claimed the lives of at least 11 miners on the spot, while more than 30 other workers sustained serious injuries. Because several additional workers are feared trapped beneath the massive mounds of rubble, emergency rescue teams have been carrying out continuous operations to reach any survivors. ## Midnight Collapse in the Remote Oni Region The tragedy unfolded while dozens of laborers were actively working deep inside the underground structure. Local eyewitness Abdelhay Kharif Abakar recounted that the main shaft of the mine abruptly gave way late on Saturday night, leaving the miners working below with virtually no time to escape to safety. Following the structural failure, nearby residents and emergency responders scrambled to begin digging through the debris to pull out trapped survivors and recover victims. The injured were transferred to regional medical facilities, with multiple laborers reported to be in critical condition. ## Follows a Tragic Cave-in That Claimed 82 Lives Days Earlier Unauthorized extraction sites operating without basic structural reinforcement or oversight have turned into lethal hazards for impoverished laborers across Sudan. The disaster in Red Sea state comes on the heels of another massive tragedy on September 16, when a chain of gold mines collapsed in the western section of the country. That earlier catastrophe resulted in the deaths of at least 82 workers in a territory controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The recurrence of such large-scale accidents within just a few days highlights the complete absence of workplace protections in the country's unregulated gold mining belt. ## Conflict and Famine Driving Impoverished Workers Underground For more than three years, Sudan has been consumed by a destructive civil war pitting the national military against paramilitary forces. The relentless fighting has severely disrupted agriculture, trade, and state institutions, pushing extensive regions of the nation to the brink of acute famine and starvation. Deprived of standard livelihoods and coping with extreme poverty, hundreds of thousands of civilians are driven to risk their lives inside perilous, makeshift gold pits simply to secure daily food. Thousands of small-scale, unregulated mines currently operate across the country without any safety protocols, emergency escape passages, or regular engineering inspections. The ongoing hostilities and the collapse of administrative governance have allowed this illicit extraction network to expand unchecked, resulting in recurrent lethal cave-ins. Relief personnel remain on site in Oni, working through heavy piles of earth to locate those still unaccounted for beneath the shaft. ## What this means for you This disaster illustrates the life-threatening conditions faced by workers driven into dangerous underground jobs by widespread humanitarian collapse. - **Workplace Safety:** Laborers in unmonitored extraction sites face severe hazards without structural reinforcements. The lack of standard protocols leaves workers vulnerable to sudden shaft failures. - **Economic Desperation:** Severe famine and prolonged conflict compel impoverished citizens into lethal industries. Basic survival needs outweigh personal safety concerns in unregulated mining corridors. - **Emergency Response:** Relief operations in remote desert and hilly regions remain severely constrained. Deficits in heavy rescue machinery reduce the odds of pulling buried victims out alive. - **Mineral Supply Chains:** Frequent disasters draw renewed attention to illicit gold flows from war zones. Global scrutiny over informal and conflict-linked mineral markets may intensify. ## Why this happened The collapse was directly caused by the structural failure of an unreinforced underground tunnel situated in an unregulated mining site. - **Lack of Structural Integrity:** The makeshift gold mine in the Oni region operated completely outside formal safety standards. The central shaft collapsed abruptly without warning under unstable soil and ground pressures. - **Prolonged Civil Conflict:** More than three years of intense warfare between the military and paramilitary forces have erased institutional oversight. The absence of regulatory enforcement has allowed thousands of hazardous pits to mushroom nationwide. - **Severe Economic Crisis:** Armed strife has driven large swathes of the population toward extreme famine and poverty. Unemployed citizens have few alternatives other than risking their lives in clandestine extraction sites. - **A Repeating Pattern:** Just days prior on September 16, serial collapses in western Sudan claimed at least 82 lives. With zero remedial measures or site inspections carried out, hazardous practices persisted, triggering the latest collapse. ## Questions & Answers ### 1. Where did the gold mine collapse occur in Sudan? The collapse occurred at an illegal gold mine in the remote Oni area of Red Sea state in northeastern Sudan. ### 2. How many casualties have been confirmed from the incident? At least 11 miners lost their lives on site, and more than 30 workers sustained serious injuries. ### 3. Are there more workers feared trapped under the debris? Yes, several laborers are suspected to remain trapped under the rubble, with emergency rescue operations continuing. ### 4. When did the previous major mine cave-in happen in Sudan? A previous major disaster occurred on September 16 in western Sudan, killing at least 82 miners across multiple sites. ### 5. Why are laborers working in such hazardous mining conditions? More than three years of civil conflict and near-famine conditions have left millions in severe poverty, forcing them to take extreme risks. --- _TrendKia — Har trend, sabse pehle.. Machine-readable view; canonical HTML at the URL above._